Hon Chair, hon Minister Mokonyane and Deputy Ministers, hon Chairperson of the portfolio committee, friends, guests in the gallery, family of Water and Sanitation, let me take this opportunity to greet you all in the name of the Department of Water and Sanitation. First and foremost I would like to thank the ANC for giving me the opportunity to stand before you today as the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation and, most importantly, the people of South Africa for voting the ANC into power to serve the nation. [Applause.]
I would also like to thank the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, where I served as a Deputy Minister in my first stint in the executive. This being my maiden Budget Vote speech as the Deputy Minister for the new department, I want to say that I am looking forward to working with Nomvula Mokonyane, my daughter in the Water and Sanitation family, in bringing quality basic services to the people of South Africa.
The President has asked Minister Mokonyane and me to set up the new Department of Water and Sanitation as part of improving delivery of water and sanitation services to communities. The good story we are telling as the Department of Water and Sanitation will focus on how we have moved forward by increasing the number of people with access to water and sanitation services and how these interventions are rewarding the country with job creation, skills for priority groups and better access to potable water and sanitation. Because of the democratic government leading South Africa today, more than 94% of our people have access to water and 84% have access to a sanitation system, while 81% have electricity and 71% have domestic waste removed from their homes - and these numbers are growing.
Ngeli xesha kulawula i-ANC siza kunciphisa inani labantu abalanda amanzi emifuleni. Kwakhona siyijongile into ebuhlungu eyenziwa ngurhulumente walapha eNtshona Koloni, kuba ebona ukuba ibafanele abantu abamnyama into yokuba babuyele kwezaa zinto sasisithi zitshemba kudala kuthiwa ngopota- pota. Mhla sahamba noMphathiswa uNomvula Mokonyane saya kubona iNkulumbuso yalapha yaba yinto emnandi, wasamkela ngothando wathi nabantu baseKhayelitsha bonwabile ziipota-pota esibanika zona esiziqokelela emva kweentsuku ezintathu. [Uwele-wele.] Khawufane ucinge, uhlale nepota-pota iintsuku ezintathu etyotyombeni ngokuba abanye abantu phaya abanazo ... [Uwele-wele.] Ungandiphazamisi, ndakuxelisa umama we-EFF ... [Kwahlekwa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Whilst the ANC is in power we are going to reduce the number of people fetching water from the river. We are also monitoring the situation involving the government of the Western Cape, which felt the need to return to the black community what we used to call the "chamber pot", in the form of the porta potti. The day Minister Nomvula Mokonyane and I went to see the Premier of the Western Cape was full of fun. She gave us a warm welcome and told us that the people of Khayelitsha were happy with the porta potti they supplied them with, which they collect after three days for disposal. [Interjections.] Just imagine, sitting with a porta potti for three days because other people do not have them! [Interjections.] Don't disturb me, or else I will do what the lady from the EFF did ... [Laughter.]]
One of the good stories we have to tell is that the department hosted its sixth annual Youth Water Summit. The purpose of the Youth Water Summit is to motivate the youth to study maths, science and technology so that we can build their interest in selecting engineering courses at tertiary institutions, particularly among females. We want to develop more female engineers, Deputy Minister Mduduzi Manana. More than 600 delegates from all nine provinces were hosted this year, including children, educators, sponsors and partners. Towards the end of the Youth Water Summit, an award ceremony was held in which bursaries, laptops and prize money were awarded and a fully equipped media classroom worth R2 million was won by Qumbu Junior Secondary School in the Eastern Cape. [Applause.]
Since the inception of this programme, 46 media classrooms have been won to date and this has made a big difference in rural communities, where the gap between the poor and the rich is being bridged. The winners of the SA Youth Water Prize at the Youth Water Summit will now represent the country at the World Water Week event in Stockholm, Sweden, between 31 August and 5 September 2014.
Ndiyathemba ukuba uMphathiswa uza kundivumela ndibakhaphe abantwana. [I hope the Minister will allow me to accompany those children.]
We are glad to mention the overall winners of this year's Youth Water Prize as three learners from Taxila Secondary School in Polokwane, Limpopo. I would like us to congratulate Nthabiseng Motona, Dipuo Nthane and Tebogo Mamabolo. These students are our winners of SA Youth Water Prize. The innovation that won them the prize looks at purifying rainwater to the level of drinkability.
Kuyakhunyushwa enye into kwelaa sebe. [And they speak high English in that department.]
Indeed, we have a good story to tell. Another good story to tell is that in response to the shortage of scarce skills, the department has a learning academy, which has awarded 648 bursaries since it was established in 2007. The learning academy is a pivotal branch of the department because it injects into society capacitated individuals who will go on to work in water sector-related projects such as infrastructure and conservation.
In the 2013-14 financial year, R12,7 million was transferred to the learning academy for student bursaries relating to science and engineering. I will urge the department to continue employing its own graduates so that we can curb the trend of using consultants consistently.
Siyayilwa into yokusebenzisa ii-consultants, mama we-EFF, ezaqalwa phofu ... [Uwele-wele.] Nalapha kwi-DA zininzi kakubi. [We are against the use of consultants, lady from the EFF, which was initiated by ... [Interjections.] There are many of them even within the DA.]
The backlog in providing water and sanitation is not new. It comes from a colonial apartheid government that deliberately created restrictive and racist laws such as the Natives Land Act of 1913, which caused dispossession and led to millions of people living in informal settlements without access to basic services, like clean water, sanitation and electricity.
Yiyo loo nto namhlanje sine-backlog yamanzi, mama. Basisusa ezindaweni ezazinamanzi baya kusibeka enkangala. Namhlanje babuza kwi-ANC ukuba kutheni, kodwa ukufa kusembizeni phaya kubo. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.) [That is why today we have a water supply backlog, madam. They removed us from places with an abundance of water and settled us in the wilderness. Today they want answers from the ANC, yet they are the cause of the situation we find ourselves in.]
During the democratic dispensation we banished all racist legislation by putting in its place the National Water Act, Act 36 of 1998, and Water Services Act, Act 108 of 1997, which treat water as a public resource that needs to be sustainably protected and used for social and economic development. In order for the legislation to continually address the needs of our changing society, we have decided to review the amalgamation of the National Water Act and the Water Services Act into a single piece of legislation.
Government's responsibility now is to accelerate the delivery of water and sanitation to communities, especially rural communities. So, we are saying ...
... kubantu basezilalini siyayazi, mama, ntonayo sinama-20 eminyaka qha siphethe. Asizi kwenza umlingo yonke into ilunge ngexesha elinye. Siyayazi into yokuba kukho iimpompo ezingenamanzi kwaye sifuna ukuba sijongane nazo. Yiyo loo nto uMongameli uZuma anyanzelise ukuba aseke isebe eliza kujongana ngqo namanzi ngenxa yokungahoywa kwecandelo lamanzi. Isekwayi-ANC, naleyo ibone loo nto, asiyiyo i-DA, yokuba kubekho isebe elijongene namanzi ukuze sisuse nabaya pota-pota babekwa zizikhohlakali phaya eKhayelitsha. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... to people from the rural areas, we are aware of the situation. It's just that we have only been in power for 20 years. Unfortunately, we can't just wave a magic wand and everything is fixed all at once. We know that there are taps that have run dry and we want to address that problem. That is why President Jacob Zuma has pushed for the establishment of a department to directly take care of water affairs. Again it is the ANC, not the DA, that has seen fit to have a department responsible for water affairs so that we can be able to remove the portable porta potti toilets distributed by some heartless people in Khayelitsha.]
The National Water Resource Strategy serves as a clear guide for adopting a better water management strategy. The possibility of a water shortage in South Africa is a reality if you do not adhere to the principles of the National Water Resource Strategy. The current trend is for people in the cities, urban and suburban areas to have easy access to water. Though in many rural areas there are taps for water, some people who are based in the deep rural areas still fetch water from the rivers.
Siyayazi loo nto, sihlala phaya ezilalini. Asifuni kuyixelelwa apha kweli qonga. Ngaphezulu apha phakathi kwethu sinosodolophu waseMbizana, nankuya uyakhuza uthi "Yhuuu!" ngokuba ngokuya sasiqhele ukuya phaya endle ngelaa xesha kwakuphethe i-DA, futhi singenalo nephepha langasese, sisebenzisa ilitye nengca, ngoku abantu ezilalini banezindlu zangasese. [Kwahlekwa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[We know that; we live in the rural areas. We don't want to be told about it on this platform. Furthermore, present here today is the Mayor of Mbizana. There he goes "Oh no!" because at the time the DA was in power we used to relieve ourselves in the bush using stones and grass for toilet paper. However, people in the rural areas now have toilets. [Laughter.]]
Last year, up to R2 million was set aside for a further 12 months to fund the Adopt-a-River programme, which created close to 600 job opportunities. The River Health programme was implemented in 110 rivers in 2012-13 and plans are under way ...
Ndiyayixhasa le Voti yoHlahlo-lwabiwo-mali yeSebe lezaManzi noGutyulo lweLindle. Enkosi. [I support the Budget Vote on Water and Sanitation. Thank you.] [Time expired.] [Applause.]